Abstract: Objective To explore the characteristics of speech fluency of school-age children with cerebral palsy in connected speech and its correlation with speech intelligibility, in order to provide theoretical basis for assessment and rehabilitation of speech fluency in children with cerebral palsy. Methods Totally 15 children with spastic cerebral palsy and 15 normal children with the same age were enrolled in this study from January to February 2021. The acoustic parameters related to speech fluency were analyzed by reading the speech-balanced reading materials, including speech rate, articulation rate, average pause duration, number of abnormal pauses, and number of repetitions. Speech intelligibility were judged by transcription. Spearman correlation analysis was carried out to analyze the correlation between the acoustic parameters related to speech fluency of children with cerebral palsy and their speech intelligibility. Results The speech rate, articulation rate, and speech intelligibility of children with cerebral palsy were significantly lower than those of the control group(t=-21.650,-15.440, -4.447, P＜0.05), while the average pause duration, the number of abnormal pause and the number of repetitions were significantly greater than those of the control group(t=19.639, 20.347, 3.767, P＜0.05). The speech rate (r=0.831), articulation rate (r=0.827), average duration of pauses (r=-0.849) were positively correlated with speech intelligibility, while the number of abnormal pauses (r=-0.783) and the number of repetitions (r=-0.672) of children with spastic cerebral palsy were negatively related to speech intelligibility (P<0.01). Conclusion Children with spastic cerebral palsy have lower speech intelligibility and abnormal speech fluency, which was reflected in the slower speech rate, the increasing number of abnormal pauses, average pause duration and the number of repetitions. Speech fluency in children with cerebral palsy is positively correlated with speech intelligibility, and the training of speech fluency should be reasonably added to the speech treatment of cerebral palsy.

Key words: cerebral palsy, connected speech, speech fluency, speech intelligibility, acoustic analysis

摘要： 目的 本研究旨在探讨学龄期脑瘫儿童在连续语音下的言语流利性特征及其与言语可懂度之间的相关性,为脑瘫儿童言语流利性的评估与康复提供理论依据。方法 于2021年1—2月分别纳入学龄期痉挛型脑瘫儿童与同年龄段正常发育儿童各15名,分析其在朗读语音均衡式材料下的言语流利性相关声学参数,包括言语速率、构音速率、平均停顿时长、异常停顿次数和重复次数,再通过转录法计算其言语可懂度。并将言语流利性参数与言语可懂度分数进行Spearman相关性分析。结果 脑瘫组的言语速率、构音速率、言语可懂度显著小于正常对照组(t=-21.650,-15.440,-4.447,P<0.05);平均停顿时长、异常停顿次数、重复次数显著大于正常对照组(t=19.639,20.347,3.767,P<0.05)。脑瘫儿童的言语速率(r=0.831)、构音速率(r=0.827)与言语可懂度均呈正相关(P<0.01);平均停顿时长(r=-0.849)异常停顿次数(r=-0.783)、重复次数(r=-0.672)与言语可懂度均呈显著负相关(P＜0.01)。结论 痉挛型脑瘫儿童的言语可懂度降低,言语流利性存在异常,体现在语速减慢、停顿次数、停顿时长与重复次数增加。痉挛型脑瘫儿童的言语流利性与言语可懂度呈正相关,在脑瘫言语治疗中应合理加入改善言语流利性的训练。

关键词: 脑性瘫痪, 连续语音, 言语流利性, 言语可懂度, 声学分析